Tag: Review

Review: These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights #1) by Chloe Gong

~ Laurie ~ Leave a comment

Back in 2020, the debut novel by Chloe Gong, These Violent Delights got published. Also, this was the first book in a duology. Even before publication, the hype and buzz for this book on social media was huge and real. With my previous experiences when it comes to hypes, I wanted to avoid this one at all costs. However, my curiosity got the better of me as always and I bought myself a copy. Unfortunately, I had a tough time getting through this. I even put it aside to pick it back up later. I finished it, but had a feeling I missed something. I just didn’t know what. Now the Dutch translation got published and that was a good time for me to find out what I might have missed. Spoiler alert: A lot. I’ve increased my rating from 3 stars to….. Well, you’ll see.

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Review: Amari and The Great Game (Supernatural Investigations #2) by B.B. Alston

~ Laurie ~ 1 Comment

In 2021 Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston was published. This was the first instalment in a new series about a black American teenager who happens to be able to see the supernatural world and also happens to possess magic. After reading it, I’ve rated this book the well-deserved 5 stars. I couldn’t wait for the next book, but I had to be patient for a little while. In fall 2022, the waiting was over and Amari and the Great Game got published. However, it took me a while to pick it up because I had several other books with deadlines et cetera. My expectations were high, would this sequel meet them?

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Review: Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1) by Holly Black

~ Laurie ~ 2 Comments

Back in 2018, I introduced myself to Holly Black by reading The Cruel Prince, the first book in the “Folk of the Air” series. At the time, I disliked it. However, I decided to give it a second chance after a few months and the rest is history. I’ve loved all books in this series ever since, the one more than the other. The Dutch publisher decided to translate this series as well. However, I’ve read them all in English. It was fall 2021 when they published a much older series by this author in Dutch, “Modern Faerie Tales”. This series has originally been rleased in the early 2000s. So, a Dutch translation was 21 years late. However, I wanted to support the Dutch publisher and therefore got myself the Dutch version of Tithe. I have to admit that I really was hesitant to pick it up, it turnt out that was not without reason.

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Review: The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

~ Laurie ~ 1 Comment

Rebecca yarros is one of my autobuy authors. My introduction to her novels was when I picked up the first book in the “Flight & Glory” series (which I still haven’t finished by the way). After that, I’ve read nearly all her books – except some older ones and some installments in series. One of her latest novels is the historical fiction The Things We Leave unfinished and the fact that it’s something different from her New Adult series and her latest adult books sparked my curiosity.

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Review: Gleam (The Plated Prisoner #3) by Raven Kennedy

~ Laurie ~ 1 Comment

A few years ago, I started reading Gild, the first book in “The Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy. At first, I didn’t manage and DNF’ed the book. I picked it back up later and now I’m slowly making my way through the entire series. This month it was time for Gleam, the third book.

This series contains graphic content such as abuse, drug use and violence. Therefore it’s not suitable for readers under 18.

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Review: This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender

~ Laurie ~ Leave a comment

It was during the pandemic and during the Black Lives Matter protests that the books by Kacen Callender got loads of attention. I’ve checked them all out and they one by one sounded interesting to me. However, it only took me a few more years to finally pick one up. This book happened to be This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story, one of Callender’s older books. Was I still as intrigued as I was back then?

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Review: The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

~ Laurie ~ 2 Comments

For nearly a year, Ukraine has been troubled. On the 24th of February 2022, Russia invaded the country with as goal to annexate it. Since that day, both countries have been at war. Violence and war unfortunately is not strange to Ukraine. The history of Russia and the countries previously being part of the Sovjet Union knows a lot of oppression and violence. When I heard of the novel The Memory Keeper of Kyiv, I knew I wanted to read it to obtain more knowledge about the history of Ukraine.

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Review: Huntress (Ash #0.5) by Malinda Lo

~ Laurie ~ 1 Comment

A few years ago, I introduced myself to Malinda Lo’s work. I’ve read Last Night at the Telegraph Club, a LGBTQIA+ historical fiction set in San Francisco during the Red Scare in the 1950s. I really enjoyed this read, so when the Dutch translation of Huntress was announced, I was really excited. It’s a fantasy based on Chinese folklore and mythology, with LGBTQIA+ characters as well. Did it meet my high expectations?

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Review: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

~ Laurie ~ 2 Comments

As many of you may know, Colleen Hoover is one of my autobuy and autoread authors. This was already the case before she got so incredibly popular on Booktok. I don’t have TikTok myself so I don’t know what people say about her books on there, but just a few of her books get all the attention while others don’t get any. One of these books is It Ends With Us. I’ve read this book years ago, before TikTok even existed. At the time, I thought it was a powerful novel which didn’t need a sequel. Guess what? There came a sequel, because of the hype on Booktok. I was yet sceptical, yet eager to read it. Because, a Colleen Hoover book never disappointed me before. Well, It Starts With Us did.

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